There Was a Little Girl

by Brooke Shields

First published 2014

Brooke Shields opens her life to readers in this candid memoir about her complex relationship with her mother Teri. Teri Shields raised Brooke alone in Newark, launching her daughter's modeling career when Brooke was barely a year old. Teri possessed fierce ambition and managed Brooke's rise to fame with skill and determination. She craved the spotlight herself and often became a media story. Behind closed doors, Teri battled alcoholism and personal demons that shaped their family dynamic. As Brooke matured into adulthood, both mother and daughter made decisions that forever changed their bond. When Brooke became a mother herself, she discovered how deeply Teri's parenting had influenced her own approach to raising children. Despite years of struggle and conflict, Brooke remained devoted to Teri until her death in 2012. Shields writes with honesty about the woman who both nurtured and damaged her, creating a story that speaks to anyone who has navigated the complicated terrain between mothers and daughters.

Genres: family, autobiography, memoir, non-fiction, biography-memoir, family-drama

Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: family-drama, parent-child-relationship

Setting: Newark

Period: 20th-century, 21st-century

416 pages · Hardcover · Dutton

Content warnings: alcohol-abuse, mental-illness

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